1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to small riding lawn mowers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a grass cutting operation is carried out for a relatively small area of land by using a lawn mower of the type controlled by a walking operator as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,897. The walking operator type lawn mower, because of its small size, has the advantage of being easy to handle; it may be used in cutting grass in narrow spaces among trees and may be stored in a shed or the like with ease. However, the operator must always walk behind the machine during a grass cutting operation though the operation is carried out in a small area of land. Thus, the walking operator type lawn mower has a disadvantage in terms of labor. This type of mower is particularly difficult for an aged or lame person to handle. There is an increasing demand for a very small riding lawn mower today.
A conventional tiding lawn mower, as seen from FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,733, has an engine mounted on a forward position thereof, and drive is transmitted from the engine to a gearbox through a hydrostatic transmission mounted under a driver's seat. The gearbox acts also as a rear axle case, and the engine, hydrostatic transmission and gearbox are arranged virtually between front and rear wheels. This arrangement provides a stable vehicle structure which, however, has limitations for miniaturization of the lawn mower. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,722 discloses a from mower having a grass cutting unit mounted forwardly of a vehicle body. In this construction also, an engine, a hydrostatic transmission and a gearbox are arranged between front and rear wheels to make miniaturization difficult. Thus, it is necessary to change the basic structure in order to realize a small riding lawn mower that may be driven with the same touch as for controlling the conventional walking operator type lawn mower.